13.1

This week a friend talked me into running the Louisville Trail Half Marathon with him in October. It wasn’t too hard of a sell for me. I’ve been running further distances and it feels good to be training for a specific thing.

I love running in the fall and I can’t think of much better time than spending a morning on some beautiful CO trails.

Depending on the day, my goal for the race waivers between just finish the thing and finish in under two hours. I have a very loose training schedule based mainly around long runs on the weekends. What could go wrong?!

If you’ve ran a long race, give me advice! I’m pretty nervous about this sucker.

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14 comments on “13.1”

Way to go Nick! It helps to make a few goals, one for if you are feeling great, one for if you are feeling okay and one that you can achieve even if you are log rolling across the finish line (Don’t go out to fast, high five every baby you see, wear shoes, whatever)

I did a half-marathon last year in June having only started running (EVER) in January that year. Obviously you are starting out in better shape than I was. The most useful thing I can tell you is to figure out what kind of route you’ll be on and train for that. I did pretty much all my pre-running on flat city streets in the winter, and then the real run was in a hilly rural area in the summer sun.

My only goal really was to finish, and I only made it 13km before I had to walk some of the way. It took me 3.5 hours…

Yep, plan and train for the terrain, stick to a schedule, and set a realistic goal. Also, PACE YOURSELF. If you get all amped up on race day and start out too fast because you’re excited, you’ll be too wiped to finish strong. Ideally you would have a very slight, steady increase in your pace every single mile, and finish up with a quick final mile and a smile on your face!

In my experience I have found the following helpful: Group runs (or find someone to help motivate you during time when you dont want to get out on long runs), Foam Roller (all the time!), Visualize how you want to run this on your long runs, and Practice refueling (times, what works, drinking). Otherwise come race day just enjoy the run!

If this is your first half-marathon, I would strongly consider not pushing yourself for any timed goal. Finish without walking, don’t overpush yourself, and just enjoy the accomplishment. After this first half-marathon, you can run in others and have a better idea of where you fall.

Be sure to not run for a couple days leading up to the race, with only 3-5 miles runs leading up the week of. Eat well and hydrate yourself the day before. In the meantime, between now and October, do one long-run a week, with 3-4 shorter runs (3-8 miles) with some sprint sets at the end (can your knee take it?) to get your body better adapted to better speed.

Trail running is great and, in my mind, easier to run — whether it’s the padding of dirt vs concrete, less sun/heat…I don’t know. But my longest run has been a trail run in below-freezing temperatures, and was great.

I’ve always been a fan of the Hal Higdon program. It’s pretty much a training program for dummies. As long as you follow the training you’ll be fine. Also if your feet swell during long runs, I highly recommend compression stockings. It’s a little hard to shell out $35-40 on a pair of socks but they’re great for recovery.

Before I did my first (and so far only) 1/2, someone told me miles 8-11 are the hardest, and I found this totally true, and good to know in advance. I think it’s because you’re pretty tired by then, but the end’s not yet in sight (or in my case, the endpoint was right next to the 11-mile mark, but I then had to make another 2-mile loop–gaah!). Good luck!!

all of the above, plus: stretch well and often, listen to books on tape (one of my favs is “what i talk about when i talk about running” by haruki murakami) get good socks, don’t try anything on race day that you haven’t tried before, use castor oil for soreness, watch “spirit of the marathon” (a few times!) and plan a post-race meal that you can look forward to. happy running!

You obviously need to GET THE GEAR. A GPS watch is SO awesome and will track your run distances, pace, splits etc, and you can upload it all the the computer if you want. I have the Garmin one and I love it! Second tip is: wear your watch for every training run, get really dependent on it, proceed to forget it when you pack up to travel for your half, FREAK OUT, then run a faster time than you ever did with the watch! :) Good luck!

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